Ring assembly for curtains

ABSTRACT

A ring assembly for a curtain includes a first ring and a second ring located on two sides of the curtain sheet and the first ring has a first hole and multiple protrusions extend from a side of the first ring. The second ring has a second hole and multiple engaging slots are defined through the second ring. Each engaging slot includes a reception port and at least one restriction port which communicates with the reception port. A neck path is defined between the reception port and the at least one restriction port. The protrusions extend through the curtain sheet and into the reception ports of the second rings and the second rings are rotated to force the protrusions to pass through the neck path and be engaged with the at least one restriction port.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a ring assembly for connectingcurtains, drapes or portieres on a rod such as a curtain rod, and moreparticularly, to a ring assembly which is easily to be assembled.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A conventional ring assembly for curtains is shown in FIGS. 14 and 15,and generally includes an inside ring and an outside ring, wherein theinside ring is connected to the inside of the curtain sheet and is asubstantially C-shaped member. A central through hole is defined throughthe inside ring and a plurality of apertures are located around thethrough hole. The outside ring is a substantially C-shaped member andincludes a through hole which is located in alignment with the throughhole of the inside ring. A plurality of protrusions extend from one sideof the outside ring and extend through the curtain and are engaged withthe apertures of the inside ring. The curtain rod extends through thealigned through hole of the inside ring, the curtain and the throughhole of the outside ring to support and hang the curtain on the curtainrod.

The protrusions are securely connected with the apertures of the insidering by way of ultra-wave hot pressing which requires proper machinesand takes a long processing time. Once the protrusions are fixed to theapertures of the inside ring, they are not able to be separated. Inother words, if one of the connections between the protrusions and theapertures fails, the whole set of the curtain together with the ringassembly may not be sent to the market.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,232 discloses a reinforcement means for maintainingthe shape of the openings in the curtain sheet so that the curtain rodextends through the openings and does not tear the curtain sheet fromthe openings.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,248 discloses a hanging product that includes anexternal slit through which the curtain rod passes. The curtain can beseparated from the curtain rod while the curtain rod does not need to beremoved. No extra hardware such as hooks are needed when assemble thecurtain sheet to the curtain rod.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,597 discloses a hanger ring assembly for curtainswherein the hanger ring assembly uses the concept of the U.S. Pat. No.6,494,248 and requires slits in both of the ring-shaped parts and thetop edge of the curtain sheet.

The abovementioned prior art have to attach the reinforcement means orhanging product to the curtain sheet by way of staking, sewing andultra-sonic welding. This method requires that the curtain sheet to bethick and tough enough and most of the curtain sheets do not have thattype of toughness. Besides, the curtain sheet has to be cut to havemultiple slits which are cooperated with the external slits of thereinforcement means or hanging product, so that the curtain rod can passthrough the slits. These slits require extra machining and may weakenthe structural strength of the curtain sheet.

The present invention intends to provide a ring assembly for curtainsand the curtain sheet does not need to cut into slits in the top edgeand the ring assembly are easily assembled without using machines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a ring assembly for a curtain whichincludes a curtain sheet with multiple through holes and multipleconnection holes defined therethrough. The connection holes are locatedaround the through holes correspondingly. The ring assembly comprises afirst ring and a second ring.

The first ring has a first hole defined therethrough and multipleprotrusions extending from a side of the first ring.

The second ring has a second hole defined therethrough and multipleengaging slots are defined through the second ring. Each engaging slotincludes a reception port and at least one restriction port which is incommunication with the reception port. A neck path is defined betweenthe reception port and the at least one restriction port. The neck pathis smaller than an outer diameter of the protrusion. The first rings arelocated a first side of the sheet and the protrusions extend through theconnection holes in the sheet and into the reception ports of the secondrings which are located on a second side of the sheet. Each of thesecond rings is rotated an angle to force the protrusion of each firstring to pass through the neck path and be engaged with the at least onerestriction port of each engaging slot.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a ringassembly which does not require any tool to assemble the first andsecond rings.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ring assemblywhich can be separated from each other without any tool.

The present invention will become more obvious from the followingdescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawingswhich show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment inaccordance with the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view to show the ring assembly of the presentinvention on the curtain sheet which is supported by a curtain rod;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view to show the ring assembly of the presentinvention on the curtain sheet and the curtain rod extends through thering assembly of the present invention and the curtain sheet;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view to show the ring assembly of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a partial cross sectional view to show the connection of thefirst and second rings of the ring assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side view to show the second ring of the ring assembly ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 is a side view to show that the second ring of the ring assemblyof the present invention is rotated an angle to shift the protrusioninto the restriction port;

FIG. 7 is a side view to show that the second ring of the ring assemblyof the present invention is rotated in another direction to shift theprotrusion into the other restriction port;

FIG. 8 is an exploded view to show a second embodiment of the ringassembly of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a partial cross sectional view to show that the protrusions onthe first ring extend through the reception ports of the second ring ofthe present invention;

FIG. 10 is an exploded view to show the first and second rings of thesecond embodiment of the ring assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a partial cross sectional view of the connection of the firstand second rings of the second embodiment of the ring assembly of thepresent invention;

FIG. 12 is a side view to show that the enlarged heads of theprotrusions extend through the reception ports of the second ring;

FIG. 13 shows that the second ring is rotated an angle to shift theprotrusions into the restriction ports;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view to show a conventional ring assembly on acurtain sheet, and

FIG. 15 is a partial cross sectional view of the connection of the firstand second rings of the conventional ring assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 7, the curtain cooperated with the ring assemblyof the present invention includes a sheet 1 with multiple through holes11 and multiple connection holes 12 defined therethrough. The connectionholes 12 are located around the through holes 11 correspondingly.

The ring assembly comprises a first ring 40 and a second ring 50, thefirst ring 40 is located on a first side of the sheet 1 and the secondring 50 is located on a second side of the sheet 1. Each first ring 40and each second ring 50 are a substantially C-shaped member. The firstring 40 has a first hole 41 defined therethrough and multipleprotrusions 43 extend from a side of the first ring 40. The second ring50 has a second hole 51 defined therethrough and multiple engaging slots53 are defined through the second ring 50. Each engaging slot 53includes a reception port 531 and two restriction ports 532, wherein thereception port 531 is located between and communicates with the tworestriction ports 532. Two neck paths 533 are respectively definedbetween the reception port 531 and the two restriction ports 532. Eachof the neck paths 533 is smaller than an outer diameter of theprotrusion 43.

The first rings 40 are located on the first side of the sheet 1 andmounted to the rod 3 via the first slots 42. The protrusions 43 extendthrough the connection holes 12 in the sheet 1 and into the receptionports 631 of the second rings 50 which are located on the second side ofthe sheet 1 and mounted to the rod 3 via the second slots 52. Each ofthe second rings 50 are then rotated an angle in either direction toforce the protrusion 43 of each first ring 40 to pass through the neckpath 533 and engaged with one of the two restriction ports 532 of eachengaging slot 53.

FIGS. 8 to 13 show a second embodiment of the ring assembly of thepresent invention, wherein the substantially C-shaped first ring 40 hasa first hole 41 defined therethrough and multiple protrusions 43 extendfrom a side of the first ring 40. Each protrusion 43 includes anenlarged head 431 at a distal end thereof. The substantially C-shapedsecond ring 50 has a second hole 51 defined therethrough. Multipleengaging slots 53 are defined through the second ring 50 and eachengaging slot 53 includes a reception port 531 and two restriction ports532. The reception port 531 is located between and communicates with thetwo restriction ports 532. The reception port 531 is sized substantiallythe same as a size of the enlarged head 431 and a size of each of therestriction ports 532 is substantially the same as an outer diameter ofthe protrusion 43.

The first rings 40 are mounted to the rod via the first slots 42 andlocated on the first side of the sheet 1 and the protrusions 43extending through the connection holes 12 in the sheet 1 and into thereception ports 631 of the second rings 50 which are located on thesecond side of the sheet 1. A curved and recessed area is defined in oneside of each of the second rings 50 and located away from the sidehaving the protrusions 43 of the first ring 40. The inner surface of thecurved and recessed area is a locking surface 534 which defines agradually increased thickness area from the reception port 531 to eachof the restriction ports 532. The enlarged head 431 of the protrusion 43is securely positioned by the thick area on either one of the tworestriction ports 532 when the second rings 50 are rotated an angle.

The two embodiments of the ring assembly of the present inventionrequire no tools or machines to combine the first and second rings 40,50. The users can easily combine them without special skills. The secondslot 52 is located off from the position of the first slot 42 for eachring assembly such that the ring assembly does not disengaged from therod 3. The first and second rings 40, 50 can also be separated from eachother by rotating the second rings 50 in opposite directions.

While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with thepresent invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art thatfurther embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of thepresent invention.

1. A ring assembly for a curtain which includes a sheet with multiplethrough holes and multiple connection holes defined therethrough, theconnection holes are located around the through holes correspondingly,the ring assembly comprising: a first ring and a second ring, the firstring having a first hole defined therethrough, multiple protrusionsextending from a side of the first ring, and a second ring having asecond hole defined therethrough, multiple engaging slots definedthrough the second ring and each engaging slot including a receptionport and at least one restriction port which is in communication withthe reception port, a neck path defined between the reception port andthe at least one restriction port, the neck path being smaller than anouter diameter of the protrusion, the first rings adapted to be locatedon a first side of the sheet and the protrusions adapted extendingthrough the connection holes in the sheet and into the reception portsof the second rings which are adapted to be located on a second side ofthe sheet, each of the second rings rotated an angle to force theprotrusion of each first ring to pass through the neck path and engagedwith the at least one restriction port of each engaging slot.
 2. Thering assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each first ring and eachsecond ring are a substantially C-shaped member.
 3. The ring assembly asclaimed in claim 1, wherein each of the engaging slots includes tworestriction ports and the reception port is located between the tworestriction ports.
 4. A ring assembly for a curtain which includes asheet with multiple through holes and multiple connection holes definedtherethrough, the connection holes are located around the through holescorrespondingly, the ring assembly comprising: a first ring and a secondring, the first ring having a first hole defined therethrough, multipleprotrusions extending from a side of the first ring and each protrusionincluding an enlarged head at a distal end thereof, and each second ringhaving a second hole defined therethrough, multiple engaging slotsdefined through the second ring and each engaging slot including areception port and at least one restriction port which is incommunication with the reception port, the reception port being sizedsubstantially the same as a size of the enlarged head and a size of theat least one restriction port being substantially the same as an outerdiameter of the protrusion, the first rings located on a first side ofthe sheet and the protrusions extending through the connection holes inthe sheet and into the reception ports of the second rings which arelocated on a second side of the sheet, each of the second rings rotatedan angle to shift the protrusion of each first ring into the at leastone restriction port of each engaging slot.
 5. The ring assembly asclaimed in claim 4, wherein each of the engaging slots includes tworestriction ports and the reception port is located between the tworestriction ports.
 6. The ring assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein acurved and recessed area is defined in one side of each of the secondrings and located away from the side having the protrusions of the firstring, the inner surface of the curved and recessed area is a lockingsurface which defines a gradually increased thickness area from thereception port to the at least one restriction port, the enlarged headof the protrusion is securely positioned by the thick area on the atleast one restriction port.